Turn For The Better

Yesterday, I wanted to post but I had some problems. On Monday afternoon, a doctor from Hospis visited me and put me on a new pain management regime. This doctor's way of going about it is very professional. She asked me how I took my painkillers previously. And looking at the painkillers that I took, she made some calculations to convert the strength of the painkillers into "amount of morphine per mg". She then prescribed the new painkillers which basically consist of oxycodone hydrochloride prolonged release tablets for the based pain management and 10mg oxycodone hydrochloride immediate release capsule for breakthrough pain. I was to take 40mg prolonged release tablets twice a day for base pain management. I think I am not used to taking such high dosage of the painkillers at a time. As a result, I suffered from nausea and vomiting feelings which are the side effects. I was also given metoclophamide tablet to manage any nausea and vomiting that I may experienced. I also felt drowsy and went to bed early and but woke up at around 1am as I wanted to vomit. I then took the metoclophamide tablet and then went back to bed. On Tuesday morning, the vomiting feeling came back and it was bad. I was also feeling very drowsy and after breakfast, I took another metoclophamide tablet and went to bed. The whole of Tuesday I was feeling so uncomfortable. By 5pm, the vomiting finally took place. I felt better after that but no sooner than two hours later, that feeling came back. Sigh. In between, I spoke to the doctor at Hospis and she told me that some patients will have such reactions and advised me to continue to take the anti-vomiting tables.

This morning, I work feeling slightly better. What I can say is that the control of the pain was very good. The pain level now is about 1. I hope by another day or two, I would get used to the dosage. Later this morning, when I felt better, I went for my IV vitamin C therapy. Today, I met another pancreatic cancer patient and he was also one of those people who went to Germany for hyperthermia treatment. His next treatment is scheduled to be in July 2012. His wife told me that he will be going to Germany for at least six hyperthermia sessions. She has only good things to say about hyperthermia and the clinic in Germany. I am glad to report that he is in very good shape now. Prior to this, he went to USA, Singapore and China for treatment and spent over RM1 million (US$313K) but without much success. My doctor also told me last week, three of his breast cancer patients died within days of each other, including the one who was in the palliative care unit. I was told they condition suddenly turn for the worst.

Now that my pain management is under controlled, my weight is still an issue. I have not gain weight and may in fact lost some weight. This is because of my ingestion and loss of appetite. Anyway, I am eating a little much lesser now to allow my stomach to recover. I believe once my indigestion problem has been resolved, I should be able to gain back some weight.

I would like to share a piece of good news. My nephew's wife gave birth to a health baby boy today. A new baby is like an unrepeatable miracle. Congratulations to both of you. Thousands of blesses for the new family. I am really happy for the both of you.